BLASTERS COME BACK

But now the Blasters are back.

By earning a convincing 20-9 victory at The DecathaJAM on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Cook Field, and erasing an 8-1 deficit in the process, the Blasters ended three years of pain and frustration and now find themselves in possession of Lord Twon’s JAM Cup once again.

"We went back to what got us those championships in the first place," Mike Campoli, a ten-time Blaster and two-time Most Valuable JAMmer, said in explaining his team’s revival. "We put Crowley, the greatest manager in the history of The JAM, back as Captain where he rightfully belongs, and we brought back Matt Skinny Guy, the heart and soul of this team for so many years. I even wore the same shirt I wore during the championship run. Probably not the same socks, though."

The victory was even sweeter for the Blasters because they had to overcome a daunting seven-run deficit in to make it happen. The Patches threatened to bury the Blasters early as the three-time defending champs scored five runs before the Blasters even came to the plate. Geoff Bowler led off the game with a hit and scored on Ed McDowell's two-run homer to left field off winning pitcher Pete Chema.

The Patches scored three more times in the frame, and after the Patches added another three runs in the third, the situation looked bleak for the Blasters.

Faced with a seven-run deficit and the prospects of losing for the fourth consecutive time, the Blasters could have lost heart and given up. But Crowley, the astute manager and natural leader of men that he is, would not let that happen, as he rallied his troops and inspired them to believe they could win. His intuition proved correct as the Blasters’ offense erupted while the Patches’ bats became ice-cold. After scoring one run in the third, the Blasters scored six times in the fourth to tie the game at 8-8, then added another seven runs in the fifth. When the dust finally settled, the Blasters had reeled off a JAM-record 19 consecutive runs to take a commanding 20-8 lead.

All of the Blasters contributed to the win, but the contributions of MVJ John Lyte, two-time MVJ R.T. McShane, Sean "The Highlight Film" Blakely and Matt Fornabaio are particularly noteworthy. Lyte went 4-for-5 at the plate, including a triple and two doubles, and finished a home run shy of joining Joe E. O’Leary in 1994 and R.T. McShane in 2001 as the only players to hit for the cycle in a single JAM.

Lyte also did his usual stellar job at third base. By winning the MVJ, Lyte and his brother Joe, the 2000 MVJ, join George and R.T. McShane as the only pair of brothers to win the MVJ.

Lyte, whose narrow misses in the MVJ voting in previous years earned him the title of "The Susan Lucci of The JAM," was excited at his selection.

"I finally won this," Lyte exclaimed when presented with the MVJ Trophy for the first time. "I didn’t think I’d ever get to take this thing home."

McShane flawlessly handled the shots hit his way at shortstop and added a pivotal three-run home run that put the Blasters ahead.

Blakely went 4-for-4 at the plate, drove in four runs and scored three times.

Fornabaio, who once belted Patches Captain Chris Spellman in the face, dealt him an even harsher blow Saturday by gathering four hits and three runs batted in, while recording four putouts behind the plate.

"It's a good thing the JAM isn't on a Sunday, because I can't play on Sundays," said Fornabaio, who was a Patch last year and joins R.T. McShane as the only JAMmers on a current winning streak of more than one. "It feels good to win again. A year is a long time between victories."

Julie Blakely, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Barbara Zepeda, who legged out an infield double, also made key contributions.

Shaky defense played by the Patches, particularly during the fourth and fifth innings when the wheels really came off, also aided the Blasters. Spellman, a closet 1980s Cardinals fan who designs his teams around defense, found the shoddy play particularly galling.

"That double that Barbara hit was a gift," Spellman said by way of example.

Meanwhile, the Blasters played solid defense, with first baseman Tom Dever anchoring an infield that included Lyte, McShane and Campoli, and with Rookie of the Year Trevor Wiessmann patrolling the outfield with Chris Blakely, Brad Sherman and Sean "The Highlight Film" Blakely. Wiessmann turned heads in the fifth inning when he recorded a JAM-record three put-outs.

The most tense moment of the game occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning when Rob Andrusco, the Chairman of the Special Projects Committee, popped a foul ball into the stands that appeared to be headed for The JAM Cup. As a horrified Campoli looked on, the ball landed within inches of The JAM Cup before bouncing safely into the grass.

The Patches finally snapped the Blasters’ 19-run streak in the top of the ninth inning when George McShane ripped a home run to left field. After a single and two outs, Mike Fornabaio then laced a single past a diving Lyte at third that Lyte claims he "missed by a [pubic] hair."

Jeff Burritt ran for Mike Fornabaio at first base, the second time in JAM history that Fornabaio has gladly departed for a pinch runner. But Spellman ended the game by hitting a hard smash to Chema that Chema flipped to Dever for the final out.

"It's just by the grace of God that I didn’t smash that ball in his face," Spel said.

The victory inspired great excitement and relief from many of the Blasters, and particularly Crowley, who appeared to have called upon a higher authority to gain the win.

"Victory is mine, sayeth the Lord," Crowley exclaimed before he drank from The JAM Cup for the first time since 1998.

When asked if he felt as if a monkey had been lifted from his back, Chris Blakely, a six-time Blaster, responded in typical sports-cliché fashion: "No. I feel like Spellman has been lifted from my back. That’s more important to me."

With the victory, the Blasters have taken a 6-4 edge in their 10-year rivalry against the Patches. The 11-run margin of victory is the largest since the then-Boom Boxers won the 1994 Mad Phat JAM 38-26, and the seven-run deficit that the Blasters overcame is the largest in JAM history.

"We’re just like the Rams," Crowley said. "When we win, we win big."

Spellman, however, downplayed the Blasters’ win as an isolated incident, referring to it as "their first win in the modern era of The JAM."

The two venerable franchises will renew their rivalry next year, as The JAM enters its second decade. If the Blasters get their wish, it will begin with the same success for them as did the first.

PATCHES     503 000 001-- 9
BLASTERS    011 670 32x--20